Happiness
by a-lady-to-me
Summary: Bates and Anna have finally found happiness together. *Major Fluff Alert*


**A/N: **Just a fluffy little one-shot to hopefully brighten up your Saturday. This was prompted to me by my dear friend AwesomeGreenTie, and I kind of ran away with it a bit :) Hope everyone enjoys it! Thank you to Kelly for reading through this for me!

Please review! xo

**Disclaimer****: **I do not own anything…

**Prompt: **note to self don't think about your otp curled up together in bed, legs and arms all tangled together between blankets to fight off the cold and listening to the sound of rain and each other's breathing, faces buried in tangles of hair or against the other's chest/neck and pressing little kisses against their cheek or their shoulder or their neck and mumbling about how lucky they are to have the other because you will get feelings and then cry

* * *

When Anna Bates had been a small child she'd found happiness in the tall grass that surrounded her parents farm. It was her escape, her time to herself, her time to let all her troubles fall away.

In her days as a young housemaid she'd found solace in the many gardens of the beautiful Abbey. Only finding a few moments on rare occasions to seek them out, but it was special to her all the same.

Then came the day she met John Bates, and now that place was found in the arms of her husband. Laying in their bed, limbs tangled together, labored breaths mingling as they came down from their mutual high, the feeling of his lips pressing countless kisses into her hair, and along her forehead. This was her haven now. This was where she felt the happiest, the most secure. If she never did anything else right in her entire life, she knew without a doubt that she had done right by fighting for John.

She turned her head that was resting on his chest, listening to his rapidly beating heart, and placed kisses into his shoulder and neck. He moaned with content satisfaction, and she knew that this was his favorite place to be as well. The depths of their love and connection meant that no words were needed in moments such as these. Their kisses, and their hands moving along the other's body were enough to convey what they were feeling.

All the same, she decided to put a voice to what was going through her mind.

"Sometimes I wonder if I could ever be happier with you than I already am….and then somehow you manage to make me happier still." She nestled her face into his neck, leaving hot kisses there.

"I feel the same, my love." He wrapped his arms tighter around her, and ran his foot lazily up and down her leg under the sheets they were tangled in.

In the midst of their utter bliss, there was a secret Anna had been hiding from her husband. One she was simultaneously thrilled and terrified to tell him about; it was still so early on, and she knew he would be crushed if they were disappointed yet again.

She decided that a moment like this was as good a time as any to share the news.

"John?" Her voice was a whisper, her fingers drawing circles in his chest hair.

"Mmm...yes darling?"

"I was wondering….have we had any promising prospects in the hotel search lately?" The shift in conversation caused John to want eye contact with his wife while they spoke. He shifted them so they lay facing one another, their hands still held between them.

"You know I would tell you if we had. Why do you ask?"

"I just...feel like we need to find one sooner rather than later." She fought off the smile that was threatening to give her away.

"Darling, we have already started looking for the hotel, and these things take time."

"Well, we need to look faster."

"Well alright, but why the rush? I mean you said you were content to wait until we found the right one."

"Well, circumstances have changed, love." She said, letting the smile break through.

"I'm afraid I'm not following." His voice was confused, and Anna had to keep herself from rolling her eyes at her husband.

"Really John, to be so intelligent you can be quite dense sometimes. Prison obviously wasn't a complete education." She laughed.

He was flummoxed, and his look betrayed him.

Anna took his hand that was already holding hers, and gently lowered it down to rest against her bare stomach.

"We must find a hotel, because….my precious, adorable, confused husband...we are going to have a baby."

She watched John's expression shift through several emotions in that moment; confusion to realization to fear and finally settling on utter joy and excitement. His hand spread out, and pressed gently against her belly where their child lay.

"You mean it?" She saw his eyes flood with unshed tears, and Anna fell deeper in love with her husband than she ever imagined she could be.

"Yes, my love, I do. I went to the doctor this morning." Her own tears of joy began to trail down her face.

"And everything is fine? You're healthy, and the….the baby is healthy?" His face was full of love and concern, and she couldn't help but giggle at him.

"Yes, everything is perfect."

She felt his thumb as it caressed her skin, and gripped his hand tighter where they were joined over her stomach. The silence stretched between them, as John watched the movement of his hand, and Anna watched him.

"Are….are you happy, John?" She whispered.

He lifted his gaze to meet hers and Anna nearly gasped with the love that shone from them.

"Happy? Oh no Anna, I am much much more than happy. I just...I can hardly believe this is happening. We've waited so long, and now….a baby?" His voice was light, almost whimsical. The way he spoke of their unborn child with such wonder made Anna's heart swell to infinite proportions.

With their hands still linked, John leaned forward and kissed her with more tenderness than she had ever known before. The intensity that passed between them took her breath away, and when he pulled back, she just barely managed to whisper to him.

"I love you, John."

"Anna, I have never been prouder, nor loved you more than I do right now in this moment."

Those were the last words exchanged between the two of them as they reaffirmed their love yet again, slowly, and well into the wee hours of the morning.


End file.
